Jamaal Franklin was talking about his path to NBA Draft night earlier this week. He talked about being a zero-star prospect out of Serrano High in the high desert outpost of Phelan, about spending a year at a prep academy in Phoenix getting his academics in order, about being asked to redshirt his freshman season at San Diego State.

“But you know,” Franklin said, “it made me a tougher person and a better player. I like the route I took.”

The hope was he’d turn off the windy dirt road onto the freeway Thursday night.

He didn’t. The San Diego State junior was finally taken by the Memphis Grizzlies at No. 41, another exponent of an NBA Draft that opened with UNLV freshman Anthony Bennett as the surprise No. 1 pick and just got weirder from there. Several mock drafts had Franklin as high as No. 15, most had him in the mid-20s and practically all of them had him in the first round.

It was an agonizing free fall that could cost the 6-foot-5 guard millions and will undoubted trigger the debate about whether he left SDSU prematurely. Players selected in the 30-pick first round are guaranteed two-year contracts, with club options for a third and fourth season. The 30th pick gets $880,600 according to the NBA’s rookie salary scale for 2013-14. The 31st pick is guaranteed nothing.

It doesn’t mean Memphis won’t sign Franklin to a guaranteed contract; some teams do with second-round picks. But it does mean Memphis isn’t required to.

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The danger, of course, is if you stick around deep into training camp and are one of the final cuts or get hurt, most lucrative European teams have already filled their foreign roster slots. The next option: the NBA D-League at $15,500 to $26,000 per year.

In similar sneakers is Horizon Christian High alum Jeff Withey, who also was projected as a first-rounder and who also slipped into the land of unguaranteed contracts. The 7-foot Kansas shot swatter went 39th to Portland.

Withey was a senior and didn’t have a choice. Franklin, who had a year left of collegiate eligibility, did.

“What we all have to do, and what we preach to our players, is you make good, thoughtful, sound decisions based on a number of factors,” said Fisher, who has had 26 players drafted by NBA teams. “He knew going in it wasn’t a slam dunk. You make decisions and then you have to make them work for you.

“He made the decision to go. It wasn’t spontaneous. His eyes were wide open. What now has to happen is he has to do what he’s always done, which is go in and prove to people that he’s better than they thought ... Hopefully he’ll be talked about as one of the steals of the draft.”

Franklin watched the draft at the Xen Lounge in Studio City with former SDSU teammates Kawhi Leonard and Malcolm Thomas. Also there was former Aztecs assistant coach Tony Bland, who tried to maintain a zen attitude toward the outcome.